Louis-Philippe Rochon Associate Professor, Laurentian University Co-Editor, Review of Keynesian Economics Follow him on Twitter @Lprochon Mr. Harper and the Conservatives never miss an opportunity of reminding Canadians that we should vote for them in October in order to ensure economic prosperity in the future. At the heart of
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The Progressive Economics Forum: Rhetoric vs Reality: The Harper Govt Economic Record
Speculation is intense that the unofficial election campaign we have already been experiencing for several months, is about to become official: Ottawa is awash in rumours the writ may be dropped as early as this weekend, setting the stage for months of promises, accusations, and photo-ops. As always the economy
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Harper is fighting the deficit battle but losing the economic war
Finance Minister Joe Oliver • Photo by Harvey K The evidence is mounting that Canada’s economy may already be in an outright recession. Recent data on investment, exports, building permits and retail sales all paint a gloomy picture, and Friday’s jobs numbers (the private sector shed 49,000 jobs in June,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Pillage and Class Polarization: The Rise of “Criminal Capitalism”
The Tribune of the Uffizi (1772–78), by Johann Zoffany, depicts the commodity-fetishism metamorphosis of oil paintings into culture-industry products. Introduction About 75% of US employees work 40 hours or longer, the second longest among all OECD countries, exceeded only by Poland and tied with South Korea. In contrast, only 10%
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Polarizing Development
Photo by Paul Sparkes Neoliberal economic policies, with their emphasis on market-led development and individual rationality, have been exposed as bankrupt not only by the global economic crisis but also by increasing social opposition and resistance. Social movements and critical scholars in Latin America, East Asia, Europe and the United
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: World’s Richest 80 People Own Same Amount as World’s Bottom 50%
Photo by Ken Teegardin Oxfam’s recent report, “Wealth: Having It All and Wanting More,” contains shocking figures that the press haven’t sufficiently publicized; so, the findings and the reliability of their sources will be discussed here. The results will then be related to the central political debate now going on
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: ROCHON on 2015 budget: Conservatives making a mockery of working Canadians
CONSERVATIVES MAKING A MOCKERY OF WORKING CANADIANS Louis-Philippe Rochon Associate Professor of Economics, Laurentian University Co-Editor, Review of Keynesian Economics Today, with great fanfare, Minister of Finance, Joe Oliver, tabled his much-delayed budget in the House of Commons. Despite the government’s best effort to confuse Canadians with tales of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: ROCHON on the upcoming federal budget (April 2015)
THE FEDERAL BUDGET AND CANADA’S ANNUS HORRIBILIS See Original post here for the CBC. Canada’s Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced a new – and long overdue – federal budget for April 21. With the Canadian economy doing so badly, this budget will be crucial. Will the minister do the right
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: THE EURO, THE DRACHMA AND GREECE: limited options in an impossible situation
Jean-Francois Ponsot Associate Professor of Economics, Université de Grenoble (France) and Louis-Philippe Rochon Associate Professor of Economics, Laurentian University (Canada) Co-Editor, Review of Keynesian Economics ___________________ The final agreement between Greece and the Eurogroup is a disappointment for anyone who held high hopes that Greece would have taken away more
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: ROCHON On Greece once More
LOUIS-PHILIPPE ROCHON Associate Professor, Laurentian University Co-editor, Review of Keynesian Economics Follow him on Twitter @Lprochon ________________________ As I have said before (see here) and will say again: any solution to Greek’s tragedy, which involves keeping the Euro as a currency is a second-best solution, unless the appropriate institutional changes
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: G20 meeting of world finance ministers too little too late
Posted earlier as an opinion piece for CBC. See original post here (this post slightly modified from original) By Louis-Philippe Rochon Follow him on Twitter @Lprochon Much was at stake earlier this week when finance ministers from G20 countries met in Istanbul to discuss Greece and the state of the world
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: ROCHON: Greece, Syriza and the Euro
This is a guest blog post from Louis-Philippe Rochon. Follow him on Twitter @Lprochon. — What a tumultuous few weeks we witnessed in Greece. Though the victory of Syriza was ill-received in particular in Germany and the European Central Bank, it was nonetheless a resounding victory for democracy. This victory
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: A New Deal for a Precarious Economy
Illustration from a 1916 advertisement for a vocational school in the back of a US magazine. • Image from Popular Science Monthly, Modern Publishing Co., New York, Vol. 88, No. 3, March 1916, p. 105 What do you say we start this discussion with some facts? I know, I know,
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: ROCHON: Harper in closet over the economy as Canada heads toward another recession
This guest blog post has been written by Louis-Philippe Rochon. You can follow him on Twitter @Lprochon – Harper’s recent incarnation as an anti-terrorist crusader has caught many Canadians by surprise. Harper is spending considerable political energy beating the drums of war against terrorists, and introducing a far-reaching, and much
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Rochon Asks: “Is the Canadian economy unraveling?”
In a recent CBC blog post, Louis-Philippe Rochon assesses the current state of the Canadian economy. The link to the blog post is here. Follow him on Twitter @Lprochon.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Seccareccia on Greece, Austerity and the Eurozone
Over at the blog of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Ottawa U professor Mario Seccareccia has given an interview titled “Greece Shows the Limits of Austerity in the Eurozone. What Now?” The interview can be read here.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: (Macro) Econ 101
On December 2, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled “Another (Macro) Defense of Econ 101.” The link to his column is available here . My brief reply was published in the Globe and Mail on December 13. The full version is below: Professor Ragan defends conventional (macro) Econ
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: SOS Alternatives to Capitalism
Image from Public Domain Montreal Serai had the opportunity to discuss SOS: Alternatives to Capitalism – a handy, slim compendium of vital, essential thoughts and discussions on the concept of an alternative economy and society – with Richard Swift. His new book has been brought out by BTL (Between the
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The coming financial crisis: a harbinger of world renewal?
Photo by Rafael Matsunaga As the prospect of global financial crisis beckons once again, will our elected leaders finally accept the need for an entirely new economic approach that breaks away from the primacy of growth and profit – or will their hand be forced by a resurgence of mass
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Economics 101
On October 21, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled “In defence of Economics 101.” The link to his column is available here. On October 24, Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon and Mario Seccareccia replied to him. The link to their response is available here.
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